Akiko Ryuunosuke
|Liath|Glas|Aurelia}} |Partner = Liath Vermilion |Status = Active |Relatives = *Akio Ryuunosuke (father, died when she was 9) *Aina Ryuunosuke (mother, died when she was 2) |Music Theme = }} Akiko Ryuunosuke (Ah-kee-koh Ryoo-noh-skeh) is the leader of Team ALGA and a third year student at Shade Academy. Her emblem, a sycamore leaf, and aura are both orange-yellow, and her weapon of choice is her High-Specific-Strength Tachi (HSST) named Sycamore. She belongs to Emerald Rose. Appearance Akiko usually dresses in a wine-red, long-sleeved, kimono-style shirt lined in a salmon color, with the left sleeve cut off at the shoulder. Along with it, she has a burnt orange sash tied around her waist with which to hold her sword. Her denim shorts are cut off near the top of her thighs and she has light grey stockings that curve down towards her inner thigh, the outsides of which bear her emblem in orange-yellow. She also wears dark red two-inch heels with salmon-colored straps. She has a pale complexion and pitch-black eyes with dashes of bright red and yellow, the same color as her hair, which fades into a bright red-to-yellow color. On her arm, from the elbow down to the wrist, she also has glossy black scales, although she usually covers them up with her sleeve. Despite whatever outfit she may be wearing, she will never be seen without her light grey surgical mask being worn over her mouth and nose. Personality Before her father's death, Akiko was a fun-loving and energetic young girl, unable to sit still for even the smallest moment. She had boundless curiosity and would constantly ask her father questions, ranging from where moss came from to what happened when you died, usually culminating in her losing interest in the answer halfway through and moving onto something else. She could usually be seen smiling and laughing about anything and everything, always trying to keep others around her happy as well. She would often burst into tears if someone else was sad or angry about something, which she began to use in her favor as a way of getting people to calm down. She was also wonderfully convincing when she wanted to be, although she never used that to hide anything bad she'd done. She was very upfront and honest about everything, no matter what the consequences for doing so may be. However, after her father's death, she became very quiet and reserved. She kept on being as honest and upfront about everything, although she also started to become resentful and her words usually come out bitter, whether she means them to or not. She lost most of her energy, as well, keeping a neutral expression most times and speaking in a flat voice. As a result, she has also stopped being so caring of other's feelings, keeping the same tone and expression no matter what other's might be, no longer able to connect with other's emotions. She is extremely determined and strong-willed, entirely unwilling to bend a knee to anyone she believes isn't worth doing so for, and, as such, has run into problems with school authority. If she felt a teacher was too much of a fool, she would refuse to listen to them, even if they were physically stronger than her. Of course, she began to show more respect for school authority the older she got, but she has stayed very stubborn for the most part. Despite all of these changes, when she's with her teammates she acts in a way reminiscent of her older self. She smiles much of the time and occasionally laughs alongside them, and her expression visibly softens when speaking with her teammates. She's much more relaxed and forgiving with them, as well, sometimes giving them sternly-worded lectures with a kind look on her face. One thing in particular that has changed drastically since her childhood is her hatred for humans. When she was younger, she had absolutely no problem with humans, even if they were cold or outright mean to her. As a child, she was willing to forgive them for being ignorant or mislead, simply believing that all humans were told lies about faunus' since they were young. Upon her father's death, however, she realized just how cruel humans really were, and the fact that most had no reason for it. Her hatred for humans has shrunk slightly since then, of course, but she has also gotten quite good at hiding it from others, so as to not cause any humans to respond negatively to it. Her likes include: animals, eating rare meat, cloudy days, reading Her dislikes include: humans, asking others for help, cold temperatures Abilities and Powers Sycamore High-Specific-Strength Tachi (HSST) A two-and-a-half foot tachi, a traditionally made Japanese sword. It's blade has an extreme curvature and it has no scabbard, being worn edge-upward through Akiko's sash. This sword is entirely normal in appearance, although the blade is made of high-specific-strength steel, which is steel combined with nickel and aluminum to make it both lighter and stronger. Odium Metal Storm Alloy Arm (MSAA) Odium is a black metallic arm attached to her torso via shoulder socket, which then connects to a pneumatics system in the bicep, which is what keeps her arm functioning. The forearm has a Metal Storm system in it, which is a mechanically operated weapons system, and it has one barrel filled with six rounds, which are all filled with five bullets. Four of the rounds use Dust bullets and the other two use normal bullets. The palm has five holes in it with which to shoot the bullets from, with sharp-clawed fingers for use in hand-to-hand combat, and the rest of the arm is full of wires to connect all of the systems and nerves together. Tendrils Akiko's Semblance allows her to create 'tendrils' from her Aura and use them to latch onto other people or objects. She mostly uses it as a way to propel herself or move one of her teammates out of danger. The tendrils can reach as far as she is able to see, although they do become thinner the further out they go. If she attaches three or more tendrils to grounded objects, she is able to lift herself into the air and 'float' there. However, this does take a good bit of concentration, so she is unable to make any large movements when up there. She has an ethereal glow when her Semblance is in use. History Early Childhood Akiko Ryuunosuke was born on the western end of Stannis to Akio Ryuunosuke, her father, and Aina Ryuunosuke, her mother. For the first two years of her life, she lived in a moderately sized town, although she has little-to-no memory of it. A few months after her second birthday, her mother was killed by roaming Grimm, causing her father to take Akiko and flee towards Vacuo. On their way, he found a group of merchants who were headed in the same direction, and asked that he and Akiko may travel with them. They agreed and set off for Vacuo, although it would take them quite a few weeks before finally reaching it. During that time, they took up shelter in the estate of a metalworks owner, who also had two children of his own. They were twins, both a year older than Akiko, and they were also both faunus'. While the children weren't able to bond that much, being so young, the metalworks owner insisted that Akio stay there so that Akiko wouldn't grow up alone, as well as formally introduced himself as Clancy Vermilion. Akio found himself unable to refuse the generous offer and so he made the decision to stay at Clancy's estate and bid the merchants farewell the next day. It was here that Akiko spent the majority of her life, growing up alongside Glas and Liath Vermilion, the faunus twins. They eventually ended up in most of the same classes as well, as they entered school at the same time. Not a day went by that Akiko and Liath got into some form of trouble for being rowdy or too energetic for their teachers to keep up with, although their fathers were sure to punish them accordingly. Akiko spent most of her time with Liath, but she tried to spend some time with Glas as well, which usually ended up with them simply reading together, causing Akiko's love for books. Once they reached the age of seven, the twins' parents kept the Glas busier and busier as the heir to their father's metalworks business, and so he was unable to read or play with the girls anymore. Both Akiko and Liath were very upset by this and pleaded with them to let Glas come play nearly every day, although it never actually worked. Tragedy It was in the next two years that life drastically changed for all of them. Akio had finally gotten himself together and had worked hard to earn enough money for him and Akiko to live in their own home. Of course, Akiko didn't want to, but was forced to comply with her father's decision. She reluctantly told Glas and Liath goodbye, heartbroken that she would be leaving her only friends. Her father, unfortunately, didn't have enough to pay for schooling, but promised Akiko he would homeschool her and teach her as much as he could. They ended up moving a few days walk away from the Vermilion estate and Akiko fell into a small depression afterwards. She was able to return to her old self with about half a year, but her father would occasionally find her staring off into the distance when she wasn't doing homework or reading. He would always take her out into the fields or to their neighbors to get her mind off of things, which never failed to greatly improve her mood. A few months after they had celebrated her ninth birthday, her and Akio were out in the woods behind their house, picking flowers and relaying stories they'd heard or read about. It was in this moment that they both heard a terrible crashing sound and looked to see a couple of Ursa Grimm looming over them. The Grimm charged at them and Akio yelled for Akiko to run, but she unable to. Her body had completely frozen with fear and she couldn't make herself turn and run, only able to watch as one of the Grimm leapt and swiped at her. She was a moment to late, though, in finally moving to run, as the Ursa's claws became embedded in her left arm, tearing through the flesh and breaking the bone, almost completely mangling it in one fell swoop. She could only scream in anguish as the pain ripped through her and she collapsed onto the ground. Her memory of the following events are hazy at best, but she clearly remembers waking up to someone stooping to pick her up. She immediately thrashed around, screaming her head off, entirely confused on the situation. She looked to her right to try and find her father, but was met with a horrific sight. What was left of him was thrown against the trees, small bits of him everywhere, blood seeping into the grass. She frantically looked around, hoping that he wasn't the one in pieces, but the people around her only shook their heads. She then blacked out, afterwards coming to in someone's house. She heard people talking the doorway and tried to sit up, but found that she could barely muster up the energy to. She gathered the courage to look down at her left arm and could barely believe her eyes when she saw that nothing was there. She turned onto her right side and wept herself back to sleep. Upon waking up again after the third blackout, someone finally came in to speak with her. She was somehow able to prop herself up on the pillows, although she couldn't bare to look the person in the eyes. He told her what she already knew, that her father had been killed by the Ursa and that she had lost her left arm to them as well. Apparently, she had also been sleeping for the past two weeks without so much as a scrap of food in her stomach, so she was forced to get out of bed and go to the kitchen. The following months were spent recovering from the event, although she still rarely ate and never wanted to get out of bed. It was after almost a year of this that she learned the cruelty of humans. The wife of the farmer man who had been sheltering her got her up in the dark of morning and marched her outside. The next thing she heard was both hard for her to comprehend and plain for her to see. 'I'll not be harboring no damn faunus in my house any longer. Get along now, before I find the shotgun.' With that, she left that house with no real goal in mind. Her body was still weak, as she hadn't been doing much in the way of physical activities to strengthen it, so she had a constant cough throughout the whole time she wandered. She became quite adept at hiding herself from wandering Grimm and humans, whom she began to both fear and hate for the sidelong glances they sent her way. She had at one time run into a group of them that took pleasure in beating her into the ground for seemingly no reason at all. She started to believe that her being a faunus was the reason why and seeing other faunus being taunted and tormented throughout her wandering only cemented her reasoning. At some point, she realized that she had been wandering in a crooked path towards the Vermilion estate, somehow having gotten herself lost on the way there multiple times and yet still finding the right path again not long after. It had been some odd months since she had left the farmer man's house, but somehow she had found her way in front of their gate. She shook fervently at the metal bars, although she broke into a coughing fit and fell in a heap to the ground. She had gone for nearly a week and a half without food or water and her body felt cold. She curled up in front of the gates and soon enough fell asleep. When she awoke, she was lying in a soft bed with a plate of food on the bedside table with a glass of water. She lunged at it, scarfing it down without a second though, before looking to the door to find Clancy Vermilion's wife, Fionn Vermiion, standing there with her mouth agape. Before Akiko could say a word, Fionn ran yelling in the hall. It was after a few silent moments that Glas and Liath burst into the room, followed shortly by their parents. Akiko was immediately beset with hugs and kisses and promises of food and water for the rest of her life. Her brain had barely processed any of it before she fell into another coughing fit, upon which everyone fell back a few steps to give her room. After she had eaten some more and taken some medicine, she laid back and listened to the four of them tell their tale of how Clancy had come home early to find her lying in front of their gate, shaking like a leaf and with a fever higher than the moon, as Fionn had put it. She couldn't help but huff a laugh when Glas and Liath told their part about coming home to find her in a cold sweat on the guest bed. Apparently, they had both taken turns staying at her side for the three weeks she had been out. It was after this that Fionn gifted her a surgical mask to cover her mouth and nose with, so as to not catch any more illnesses while she recovered. Liath then asked what happened, but was quickly shushed by Clancy. Akiko herself was unable to put into words what exactly had happened, finding she was only able to weep. The family left her after a few more hours of comforting her, saying that she could take as long as she needed until she was ready to tell them what happened. For the next month or so, Akiko wasn't able to tell them what happened, finding that her chest always felt tight and her head hurting whenever she tried, until one day in the backyard when Liath and her were playing around. They were playing tag and Liath had run off to Akiko's right. When Akiko turned to run after her, her eyes were immediately met with a tree and all of the memories rushed to her. She screamed and collapsed to the ground, sobbing and clutching the stump of her left arm. Her mind was a blur as she remembered everything, screaming and crying for help as Liath cradled her in her arms. It wasn't until the next day that Akiko found herself able to tell them everything that had happened without so much as batting an eye. She had gone into shock and was merely saying the words as information, rather than reliving them again as she told her tale. The girls never played tag again, instead opting to stay inside so that Akiko's condition didn't worsen as she worked up her physical strength. Of course, after a few months of that, Akiko begged to go outside during the day, on the condition that she wasn't to go running around until she was actually physically able to. Liath was compliant with this as well, having started to go stir crazy right along with Akiko, and the two of them started doing strength and endurance training from that day onward. Glas was still being groomed into the perfect heir, but he was still able to sneak out and train with them on most days. The twins were still enrolled in school, but since Akiko had started homeschooling at seven years, she was behind them in schoolwork. Thankfully for her, Fionn took it upon herself to school Akiko, unwilling to let her go into school with the possibility of being bullied for her physical state. So, Akiko began a rigorous schooling schedule that she put 100% into. She didn't want to be behind any longer in studies and was already making good progress in training herself physically. She took to her studies very well, quickly catching up with the twins and finally overpassing Liath after a couple of years. Combat School It was around the age of thirteen, Akiko and Liath made up their mind to enroll into a combat school, although convincing Liath's parents to allow them to do so was something else entirely. They were able to prove that they both had the physical capabilities of doing so, as well as the knowledge required, but Fionn was adamant that they both should choose different careers. She was worried about what could happen to them in the future, or if they would even have a future, but Clancy did his best to quell her worries. Of course, Fionn was sure to bring up Akiko's lack of a left arm, but Akiko countered it by showing that she was more than good enough without two arms. It took a few days, but Fionn finally relented and enrolled the two of them into combat school, but was met with Glas also pleading to go. Akiko wasn't there to hear all of it, but the ensuing argument between Glas and Clancy was loud enough to hear outside of the house itself. It took even longer for Clancy to finally relent and allow Glas to enroll into combat school as well, but he was obviously not happy about it. The twins and Akiko celebrated by sparring in the backyard, which lasted the whole evening because they were so fired up. The following weeks they were drilled on the proper conduct of Huntsmen and Huntresses and what exactly they would be in for. Clancy even took Akiko aside and made her a promise: if she passed through combat school with only one arm, he would pay to have her a bionic left arm made. Naturally, Akiko loudly claimed that she would graduate from combat school with flying colors. The following months they had to wait before school started were agony for her, but she was finally able to begin her schooling near the end of her thirteenth year. It was then that she was met with the same realization that she had been met with four years ago. Humans were cruel. She was old enough now to realize that it was also because of her arm, but there were also plenty of humans who tormented her because she was a faunus, as well as because of her surgical mask, which has taken to wearing at all times because her health had yet to improve drastically enough to go without it. Thankfully, Glas and Liath were always there to back her up, and even started wearing surgical masks of their own, but they were also harassed because they were faunus'. All of this only further fueled Akiko's hatred for humans and her determination to show them they were wrong. The three of them threw themselves into their studies and training, shaping themselves into the huntsmen and huntresses they wished to be. Those four years were long and grueling, but the three of them eventually made it out as true huntsmen and huntresses in training. As promised, Clancy had a bionic arm special made for Akiko, which was entirely awkward and uncomfortable to her, but she was determined to get the hang of it and come into Shade Academy swinging. It took her until a couple of weeks before school started for her to get it down pat, and even then she sometimes had difficulties with it, but she was confident she could only go up from here. Shade Academy Initiation time was here and the three of them were tossed into it without a moment's hesitation. Fortunately for them, Liath and Akiko found each other first and partnered up to complete initiation. They were just barely able to get by with the help of Liath and his new partner, some human Akiko couldn't stand to look at. It was a long battle that Akiko was somehow able to lead them to victory over and the four of them found themselves standing side by side on center stage as the headmaster called out their team name and leader. 'Akiko Ryuunosuke, Liath Vermilion, Glas Vermilion, Aurelia Mazarine, the four of you make up team Algae, led by...Akiko Ryuunosuke!' Relationships Akio Ryuunosuke Aina Ryuunosuke Clancy Vermilion Fionn Vermilion Glas Vermilion Liath Vermilion Aurelia Mazarine Patina Phlox Trivia *She always refers to strangers and acquaintances by their last name, either on its own or with an added prefix (Miss/Madam, Mister/Sir), but doesn't ask others to do the same for her. She refers to her friends by affectionate nicknames taken from their last names. *Akiko has grown used to the stares she garners by not hiding Odium, not bothered by how people whisper about it behind her back. This contradicts the way she hides her scales under her sleeve, however, as she has grown tired of people harassing her over being a faunus. CNR Explanation *Akiko is a combination of meanings: Aki can mean 'Clear, Crystal', 'Bright', or 'Autumn' ; Ko means 'Child' *Ryuunosuke is a combination of meanings: Ryuu can mean 'Dragon' or 'Noble, Prosperous' ; No means a 'Possessive Marker' ; Suke means 'Forerunner, Herald' Category:Property of JokersWitch Category:Fan Made Character Category:Faunus Category:Female Category:Not for Roleplaying